2020 Police Crime Report in San Mateo Park

What’s Going on in Your Neighborhood

By: Lieutenant Ryan Monaghan, Area-1 Commander

2020 has certainly brought its fair share of challenges for all us; however, I continue to see our San Mateo community groups banding together and looking out for one another during these unprecedented times. I look forward to seeing all of you at an in-person meeting sometime in the future. In the meantime, do not hesitate to contact me if you are planning a virtual meeting and would like a representative of SMPD to join.

On the following page, I have provided year-to-date data on the top crime/ reports for the SM Park area and data from the same time period last year for comparisons. As you can see from the data, property crimes were up across the board from last year. Petty thefts accounted for the largest spike. We believe this is largely attributed to unlocked vehicles.

We are seeing similar crime trends in other neighborhoods around the City. Anecdotally speaking, the explanation can be attributed to environmental and societal changes brought on by COVID-19. Opportunists, who generally target shopping malls/ public shopping areas and large parking lots to commit their crimes, are instead targeting residential areas. In addition, correctional institutions are temporarily having to release some offenders earlier than usual, without the same level of oversight and/or transitional support, to control COVID-19 outbreaks within their populations. All of this said, your SMPD officers continue to proactively safeguard your neighborhoods. To this end, keeping your neighborhood safe is a “team sport” between you all and your police department.

Here are 3 things you can do to help us stop and solve crime:

1. Lock, stow, and keep it! Make sure valuables are out of sight within your vehicle and lock your doors. These are two actions that can most effectively protect you from being a victim of opportunistic property crime.

2. “See Something, Say Something!” You are our greatest asset. Dial 911 to report criminal activity. Our officers continue to proactively patrol San Mateo, but they are eager to respond and catch criminals in the act!

3. Register your street-facing video security cameras with us. Participate in SMPD’s Neighborhood Eyes Security Team (NEST) by registering your video doorbell or other security cameras with us at https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/NEST.